


The Taste of Apples

by AJLynne



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Happily Ever After, Plot with a little porn, almost no accessory characters except lando and maz, apple orchard/pumpkin patch, brief mention of a cat dying in the past (doesn't happen in story), hay rides, kylo ren not found, there's a cat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:55:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27168955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AJLynne/pseuds/AJLynne
Summary: Lonely real estate lawyer Ben Solo goes for a hayride and it changes his life.  Also... a woman tempts a man with an apple, because that's never been done before.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 56
Kudos: 139





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [savethespacewhales](https://archiveofourown.org/users/savethespacewhales/gifts).



> This story is in honor of Amy Wishman Nalan on her 40th birthday. Amy... namesake and fellow progressive midwestern mom who reads and thinks and cares and empathizes so very much. I hope your year and decade are full of joy. And I hope you like this story. Thank you for inspiring me to write Reylo again after all this time.
> 
> (This fic is complete, and I'll post a chapter a day).

__________________

“An apple tree is just like a person. In order to thrive, it needs companionship that’s similar to it in some ways, but quite different in others.” - Jeffrey Stepakoff, _The Orchard_

As an apple tree among the trees of the forest,  
so is my beloved among the young men.  
With great delight I sat in his shadow,  
and his fruit was sweet to my taste.  
 _Song of Solomon 2:3_

  
A wood-slatted, straw-covered trailer stood hitched to an old tractor. The orange sun disappeared into clouds over hills to the west. Scents of dirt and hay and fresh cider swirled. Ben Solo absorbed it all as he crossed his arms and leaned against a sturdy split-rail fence. Breathing out a sigh, he watched a tired looking father strap a sticky toddler into his carseat as the dirt parking lot next to the barn emptied out.

“Lighten up, Solo. We’re _celebrating_ ,” Phasma hissed as she sidled up, pouring something from a flask into a styrofoam cup before offering it to him. When Ben shook his head she just laughed - a sharp, jarring sound - and stepped past him to climb into the trailer where the rest of Ben’s coworkers were currently settling in for a _hayride_ , of all things.

 _Sick._ Ben flicked a bee that had settled on his sleeve. He wasn’t a hayride kind of person. None of these fuckers from his office were, as was evidenced by their grumbling about bugs and dirt and the slightly chill breeze. On a normal Friday evening they’d be a few hundred into a bar tab by now, passing pills and spilling powder on their designer shoes. And he’d be home by himself, nursing a bourbon and staring out at the city lights.

But instead he was here… in a goddamn apple orchard. Row upon row of fruit-laden trees fanned out in all directions across the rolling landscape. A pumpkin patch (60 x 75 yards) delineated the southeast corner. Takodana Pond (spring-fed, three acres) abutted the property to the north, on the shore of which stood a 1400 square foot house that was twenty feet inside the orchard property line. Ben knew all these details, knew this landscape like the back of his hand, though he’d never laid eyes on it in person before tonight.

“Solo!” Hux called out. “Go find this Ray person. It’s getting fucking dark.”

Ben didn’t mind the dark, so he stayed where he was. Ray - whoever they were - had no way of knowing that the trailer full of assholes signed up for tonight’s hay ride was from a real estate legal firm that was about to finalize the sale of this land to a developer. He had personally spent months on the deal, which - finally - was essentially finished except for the inevitable crying. By Christmas the apple trees would be gone, bulldozed into burn piles along with the house and barn. In spring, framing would start on the condos. Takodana Pond would be landscaped into a water feature near the 6th hole of the golf course.

Tonight’s excursion was Hux’s idea. A fucking victory lap. They all thought it was hilarious. 

But Ben wasn’t amused; he was just… tired. Tired of these people, of all the noise in his life and in his head, of the pace and the paperwork, even of the money. Yesterday was his birthday. He turned thirty and spent the day working eleven hours before going home alone. No one had called, not even his mother… though that was expected, considering what she must think of him. She would be even more disappointed once this project went through. 

The sky over the western hills turned pink and orange. Something about this place made his chest feel strange, and he had about made up his mind to get back in his car and drive the hour back downtown when a figure finally emerged from the cider mill/donut barn and hurried over. They were silhouetted against the low sun, but he quickly recognized the hips and bouncing ponytail of a woman.

Ben’s eyes dropped against the glare, and he found himself watching her boots as she approached. There was a spring in her step, a surefooted lightness that spoke of joy and confidence. He could not make himself look up.

“Hi! Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Low. British accent. A voice that vibrated in his chest. 

An outstretched hand in his peripheral vision. Ben responded out of habit, checking his grip as his much larger fingers closed over hers. Either he was very cold, or she was unusually warm. He let go reluctantly.

“I’m Rey.”

His simple response of “Ben,” was drowned out by shouts from the trailer. 

“Ray’s a girl! Who names a girl Ray? Let’s go, Ray! Let’s get this show on the road!”

“Sorry about that,” Ben murmured, still watching her scuffed work boots as she widened her stance slightly, planting her feet in a show of strength. “Most of them are already drunk.”

Rey shrugged, and the motion finally drew his gaze up to her face. 

Ben’s breath caught. 

“It’s ok,” she smiled. “I’m used to it. We get a lot of fraternity and sorority groups from the university. Friday nights are always… interesting.” Her gaze traveled from his head to his toes, and Ben felt it every inch of the way. “Ready?”

 _Hell yes._ “Sure.”

She cocked her head, pony tail flopping to one side. “Well, then hop on, Ben.”

*

Forty minutes later he had a contact high from the joints that Phasma and Mitaka kept passing back and forth. The low drone of the tractor’s engine mixed with the buzz of cicadas and the chirp of crickets. From the depths of memory, Ben suddenly recalled catching bugs in a jar as a kid. Caterpillars and fireflies and bumblebees… he’d watch them for a while and them set them free. He tried to imagine the sheer tonnage of unseen insects out there now in the darkness.

The golf course would be silent at night. Industrial strength pesticides would see to that.

Rey was a shadow ahead, swaying on the tractor’s seat as it traveled the dips and bumps between rows of trees. At some point a large cat hopped up next to her and was licking its paws, white fur almost glowing in the fading light.

She had tried to engage them in conversation at first, acting as tour guide and offering facts about the farm and the different varieties of apples. But snarky responses and muffled laughter had mostly silenced her, though Ben heard quiet singing as they went along. It was a song he thought he knew but couldn’t place.

Rey had given them a large basket of apples with encouragement to eat all they’d like. Hux was making a game of throwing them at the trees they passed, trying (and failing) to knock fruit off the branches. The others mostly ignored the basket. 

Ben was eating his fourth apple. There were several varieties; he could taste the difference. None of them bore any resemblance to the apple-shaped food he’d known his whole life. Sweet, crisp, tart, juicy, with skin that tasted of sun instead of wax. 

He heard a crunch from beside him and turned to see Mitaka chewing thoughtfully before cocking back his arm and chucking the mostly uneaten apple forward. It sailed past Rey’s head, missing her by a few inches.

She didn’t turn around, which made the volume of her voice even more impressive. “Anyone that hits me or BB with an apple core gets to walk back,” she announced. “And there are rattlesnakes in the tall grass, so you’d have to watch your step.” The silence that followed was almost immediately broken by the distant yip of a coyote. Phasma cursed under her breath. Ben heard the word “bitch” muttered by someone, very quietly. But no more apples flew.

He grinned, grabbed another apple, and watched Rey scratch around the cat’s ears as they made a wide, swaying turn back towards the barn.

  
*

  
“Sorry about that. They’re…”

“Not usually like that?” He couldn’t see Rey’s face in the now pitch dark, but he heard the subtle sarcasm in her tone as she slid from the tractor seat to land lightly on the gravel beside him.

“No, I’m afraid they’re always like that,” he admitted. The idiots he worked with were already stumbling back toward the parking lot, Phasma singing a bawdy, drunken song about inappropriate use of apple pies.

“Lovely.” She turned, and he could see the weary drop of her shoulders as she tipped back her head to look at him. They were quite close, though he didn’t know whether that was his doing or hers. “Your firm prepaid for the trip,” she said on an exhale. “So you’re all set.”

“Ok.” There was nothing left to say. _By the way, because of my firm and especially me, you’ll be out of a job soon. This wild place that you obviously love will be scraped into a manicured playground for the wealthy. And you’ll look back on this evening and realize that we were rubbing your nose in it. But hey, at least I’m gonna clear six figures on this deal._ “Um, do you accept tips?” 

There was a slight pause, and Ben thought he’d said the wrong thing. But then she dipped her chin in a nod.

“People sometimes tip for hayrides.” Another pause. “If you had a good time.”

“I did.” He reached for his wallet, searched for something else to say. “I liked the apples.”

“Thank you.” She sounded genuinely pleased about that as she accepted the folded bill, likely unable to see in the dark that it was a hundred. Ben felt like an asshole for thinking she’d be impressed. “Which kind did you try?”

“Which apple? I guess… all of them?”

Her head cocked to the side. “How many apples did you eat, Ben?”

He was becoming aware of a stomach ache. “Six or seven.”

Another short silence. “Uh oh.”

“What?”

“Um… you’ll see.” 

The cat, which had been winding around both of their ankles, gave a sudden yowl and darted behind the barn. Ben’s coworkers were long gone. He was probably starting to creep her out.

Ben stepped back. “Ok, um… thanks, Rey. Goodnight.”

A small chuckle. “Sleep well, Ben.”

  
*

  
He did not sleep well. Between multiple trips to the bathroom, Ben had unnerving yet enjoyable dreams of scuffed work boots stepping on his neck while a British-accented voice softly whispered his name.

“You look like shit,” Phasma grumbled as he passed her in the corridor early the following morning. 

Ben slumped into his office chair and fired up his computer. Once this deal was done he could maybe not come in on Saturdays.

The email he’d been waiting for was finally in his inbox. He clicked it and scanned through the environmental impact report that would clear the last regulatory hurdle for the orchard development to go through. 

Or not.

 _Considerable air, water, and noise pollution concerns. Irreversible damage to critical wetlands. Habitat destruction of two federally protected salamander species._

Salamanders. Ben sighed, propping an elbow on his desk, his forehead resting on his palm as he skimmed to the signature at the bottom. He noted the name of the inspector and picked up his phone.

Ninety minutes, three calls, and one discreet bank transfer later, another email pinged his inbox. A new environmental impact report, same inspector. _Project meets or exceeds all local, state, and federal guidelines. No modifications required. Approved to proceed as planned._

Ben’s job was too easy sometimes. The amount of money at the firm’s disposal made it so. People with that kind of money had almost unlimited power, and those without didn’t stand a chance. 

There were hundreds of apple orchards. Maybe thousands. Until yesterday he hadn’t ever - not once - given a second fucking thought to apples. Or tractors. Or white cats. Or scuffed work boots that were maybe half the size of his feet.

Ben pulled up the original environmental report. Once he deleted it from his inbox, the IT department would ensure that it was scrubbed from existence. No one would ever know about it. Ben’s finger hovered over the delete button. Five minutes. Ten. His finger started to cramp.

He found a spare external drive in his desk drawer, plugged it in and saved the email, unplugged and put it in his pocket. Then finally on his work computer: _delete_.

  
* 

  
The orchard lot was full. Ben had to park at the end of a line of cars a quarter mile down the road. It occurred to him that he probably should have stopped home to change clothes.

Families, dogs, crowds of teenagers everywhere. Bright sun on a warm autumn day. Bees thick around the cider mill. The smell of cinnamon. A pair of swans visible on the distant pond, white against the shade-darkened water. He stared out at them, wondering what the hell a salamander even looked like.

“Back so soon?”

In the light of day, she was… like nothing he’d ever seen. There were freckles.

He was in terrible trouble.

“I…”

“Needed more apples? I’d thought you’d avoid them for a while after yesterday.” She squinted up at him through long lashes. He’d never understood what the color ‘hazel’ really described for eyes. Now he knew.

Ben bit his lip and looked down as he felt his cheeks flush, though he was somehow unbothered that this beautiful woman knew he’d spent half the night on his toilet. “I’ll be more careful next time.” He smiled. “Your fault, really, for growing such delicious apples.” He was certainly going to hell for such a cheesy line, but it was worth his eternal soul because Rey grinned back.

“Everything in moderation,” she said, nodding.

“Not necessarily everything,” he returned quietly, and at that she held his gaze for a long moment until a woman’s voice - loud, brash, jarringly familiar - yelled out through the barn window.

“Rey! We’ve got thirty kids from that church group heading out to the pumpkin patch. They’re gonna need some help!”

“I’m on it!” She glanced at Ben’s work-casual attire, his button-down shirt with sleeves rolled to the elbows. 

He stood straight and crossed his arms across his chest, knowing it made his forearms pop. Rey laughed out loud, then grabbed one of his wrists and tugged.

“Come on, muscles, we’re needed in the pumpkin patch.”

  
*

  
Pumpkins, it turned out, grew on prickly vines and were coated in dried mud. After an hour Ben’s arms itched and his clothes were filthy. His shoulders, which had no trouble with countless reps in the gym, now ached with fatigue. He’d interacted with more strangers in the last sixty minutes than in the previous three years.

He stopped to wipe the sweat off his neck just as Rey trudged past lugging two pumpkins that had to weigh a combined sixty pounds. She grinned. “Having fun?”

“Yes.” Not a lie.

The sun was far to the west, the crowds finally thinning out. He spent an enjoyable fifteen minutes helping an old woman who only spoke German pick out half a dozen decorative gourds. She kissed him on the cheek after he loaded them onto the wagon back to the barn.

Rey came beside him, wiping her hands on the ass of her pants. “Aw, you got a smooch.”

“Apparently I have excellent taste in gourds.”

“And you speak German. Impressive.”

“Tenth grade. One semester.” At her raised eyebrows, he tapped his temple. “Mind like a steel trap.”

She threw back her head and laughed, giving him an amazing view of the long lines of her neck. “Well, let’s put that talented brain to work running the cash register in the donut barn.” She grabbed his hand and tugged again, and Ben decided he would happily allow her to pull him wherever she’d like. He wrapped his fingers a little tighter so she wouldn’t be inclined to let go.

They walked for a minute in pleasant, tired silence. Then he said, “Shouldn’t I be filling out employment forms of some kind? W-4? Background check?”

“I was hoping to pay you in apples.”

He hummed agreeably. “That’s a start.”

From the corner of his eye he saw her glance up at him. “If apples are a start, what’s the finish?”

Ben just pressed his lips together and walked, keeping his grip tight on her calloused little hand.

  
*

  
“I’ve never had a picnic in the dark.” 

They sat on a log by the pond’s shore, a bag of cinnamon apple donuts and a jug of cider between them. Ben felt dizzy with sugar and the aftereffects of a hard day’s work. Or maybe it was just _her_.

Rey licked her fingers and reached for another donut. “Never?”

“I think I’d remember.” Something rustled in the woods nearby. “What if we get attacked by wolves?”

She shrugged. “A pack of coyotes would be more likely.”

“Last night you said something about rattlesnakes.”

“Those are probably all asleep.”

“Probably?”

She took a long drink of cider. “I guess? I’m not a rattlesnake expert.”

“But you are an apple expert.” He’d learned as much from their snippets of conversation throughout the day. And it wasn’t just from working here. She was actually studying the subject in school, doing research toward a masters degree in agriculture. She even had her own little test plot in the orchard, where she was grafting some dwarf root stock and cross-pollinating with wild apple trees to create a new variety. _That_ didn’t show up on any of his detailed maps of the place. 

“Mmmhmmm.” She leaned forward, elbows on knees, her eyes glittering in the low light. “So what are you an expert in, Ben?”

 _Destruction_. “Oh, a little of this, a little of that.”

Her eyes narrowed at the evasion, but she recovered quickly and smirked at him. “So, a man of many talents.”

He stared into her gorgeous face, wondering if he was reading too much into this. Whether he was or not… “You are a shameless flirt, Rey.”

Another too-casual shrug. “I’m a busy woman. I don’t have time to waste on being indirect-”

She stopped talking as his lips closed over hers.


	2. Chapter 2

_____________________

“You’re looking unusually chipper for Monday morning.”

“Fuck off, Hux.”

“That’s better.” Hux leaned against the side of Ben’s desk, arms crossed.

Ben subtly closed out the screen on his computer. “What do you want?”

“Snoke wants to know when the orchard acquisition will be ready for final signatures.”

_Breathe._ “This week.”

Hux scoffed. “This week as in ten minutes from now, or at six o’clock Friday evening?”

Ben picked up a file on his desk and pretended to read. He scowled and made a shooing motion with one hand. “Somewhere in between. Now get the hell out of here and let me work.”

That evening on his way home, Ben stopped at a corner store and used cash to buy a prepaid cell phone with several hundred minutes. He also bought another thumb drive, a bag of Halloween-colored peanut m&m’s, and a tin of expensive cat food.

Once home, he sat at his kitchen counter in the dark, looking between his purchases and a frayed business card he held between two fingers. After a very long time, he activated the phone and dialed with shaking fingers, hoping his call would be answered at this late hour, because by tomorrow he might lose his nerve.

After four long rings… “Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lando Calrissian here.”

  
*

  
“Really? You know Maz?”

“I did. When I was a kid.” Ben talked to the boots that stuck out from underneath an old pickup truck. She’d been under there since he arrived, insisting for thirty minutes that she was ‘almost done.’

Rain beat down on the roof of the barn. Though not officially closed, the orchard had no customers. Ben sat on a hay bale, eating the m&m’s he’d brought for her. 

“Maz and… my mother are friends.”

And - as Snoke had been delighted to tell him - though this property was owned by a banker in the city who’d inherited it, Leia’s dear friend was its longtime manager and resident. Maz lived in the house near the pond. And, apparently, she was something of an informal adoptive mother to Rey.

“No way!” Finally, she rolled out from under the truck, hair sticking up and face absolutely filthy with soot and motor oil. “Small world. Do your parents live around here?”

He felt his smile fade. “My mother lives in the city. My dad… died a few years ago.”

She stopped putting away tools and came to sit beside him. “I’m so sorry, Ben.”

“I didn’t…” _I didn’t go to the funeral, because I didn’t know if it would cause a scene, but now I realize that I probably damaged things even more._ “We weren’t close.”

Her hand on his arm was warm. Her whole body was warm as she leaned into him. “That almost makes it worse, doesn’t it? Now you can’t try to fix whatever problems you two had.”

That landed like a gut punch. “Yeah,” was all he could manage to say.

After a quiet minute she said gently, “Would you like to go up to the house and say hello? I’m sure Maz would be happy to see you.”

Ben pressed his lips together briefly, wishing he had any truths to share that weren’t painful. “I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t.”

Rey stiffened, just slightly. “Why not?”

“Because I’m not close with my mother, either.”

“Oh.”

Thunder rolled overhead and a wind gust shook the walls, but inside the barn was dry and warm. Even so, Ben suppressed a shiver. 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He didn’t, and so he offered her a yellow m&m. She ate it quietly and watched him, just waiting. 

Ben had already gotten used to the smell of her: straw and apples and diesel. It was ridiculous how much he thought about the kisses they’d shared, and fantasized about doing more. And not just sex… he wanted to wrap himself around her through the night and into morning, hold her hands, crawl into her skin… find out who she was and where she came from and what would make her happy. Daydreams that simply didn’t fit at all into his life how he’d lived it so far. Where might this go if he was a better person? If he hadn’t created wounds that would never heal?

He took a deep breath. “I paved over my mother’s family estate.”

Rey drew back and stared at him, those hazel eyes that he saw in his dreams narrowing. “I don’t understand a word of that sentence. You _what_ her _what?_ " 

Ben wove his fingers into hers, wondering how long it would be until she pulled them away. Probably another minute or two. “I work in real estate acquisition and development. One of my first big accounts was the seizure of a large portion of my grandparents’ property, using eminent domain laws, to build a freeway bypass.” 

“A freeway bypass.”

There was no judgment in her eyes, only confusion. He supposed the judgment would come later, when she learned about his latest project. Though for the time being he was prohibited by multiple laws from discussing that. Especially after his conversation with Lando last night.

“But now you regret it.”

Was he that transparent now? Or was it only her who could see through him so easily? Ben thought about the woods he’d played in as a boy. The small lake where he’d learned to skip stones. Climbing the high seats in Grandma Padme’s kitchen. 

“I do,” he whispered, acknowledging it for the first time.

He flashed back to the confrontation with his father outside the courtroom, Han vehemently trying to convince Ben that Snoke was using him. He had known it was true even then, had known his father was speaking from a place of love and concern. That was the moment he should have left Snoke’s firm and gone home. But he was young and stupid and arrogant, and instead he’d killed that relationship in one brutal stroke.

“How did your dad die?” Rey whispered.

“Heart attack,” he answered just as quietly. 

Her hand stayed in his until he kissed her goodbye and drove home in the rain.

  
*

  
Ben didn’t see Rey the following evening. Instead he drove to a public parking lot on the city’s outskirts, then walked seven blocks to a cafe, exited through their back door into an alley, then walked another two blocks to an unmarked door which opened before he even knocked. A woman in dark clothes escorted him to a small office.

“Sorry for the cloak and dagger act, kid,” Lando said, rising from the table where he waited with a computer and recording equipment, along with a thick file. “One thing we’ve learned with Snoke and Associates is that no amount of caution is too much.”

This had been hinted on the phone. There was already an investigation.

The man Ben used to call ‘Uncle Lando’ settled back in his chair and whistled. “Look at you, kiddo. Leia said you’d gotten big, but…” His voice trailed off, and Ben wondered when that conversation with his mother had occurred. Whether she ever spoke of him at all anymore.

“We missed you at the funeral,” Lando continued quietly.

Ben flinched. He should have expected that, but the words hit hard coming from one of his father’s oldest friends. Searching for something to say, he gestured toward the equipment on the table. “You’ll be recording?”

“We already are, Ben.” Lando’s voice was serious now, and he gestured for Ben to sit. “This,” he tapped the large beige file, “is you. Not Snoke, not the firm, just you.” He leaned forward and looked Ben in the eye. “I gotta tell you kid, I was glad to get your call.”

Ben knew what was implied. Had he not come forward on his own, there was plenty of evidence to convict him on any number of charges. Money laundering. Bribery. Falsifying documents. 

He ran a trembling hand through his hair. “I thought I’d been better at covering my tracks.” 

“You were good, kid. Better than anyone I’ve seen. But someone in your firm was leaving a trail - a sloppily unencrypted email here, an easily traceable phone call there - and every breadcrumb led back to you.”

Ben froze. “They were setting me up.”

Lando nodded. “Someone must have gotten wind of our investigation. You were going to be their sacrificial lamb.” He scowled, his usual good humor gone. “I imagine Snoke liked the idea of sticking it to your family one last time.”

Ben thought of every side-eyed glance from Hux. Every time someone abruptly stopped talking when he entered the room. Every empty platitude Snoke sent his way after Ben did his job well and made them all rich.

Of course his father was right.

“I’m sorry, Lando. For this,” Ben sighed, gesturing to the file, “for my mother, for… my father.” He sat back and scrubbed his hands over his face. Lando was practically family. The apologies had to start somewhere, even if it meant baring his soul to the FBI agent who might have sent him to federal prison. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Well, you’re lucky that the higher-ups want Snoke himself badly enough to offer you immunity.” Lando studied him, tapping the table with one finger. “But I gotta know, kid, what was it that finally did it for you? Why now?”

“I…” Where to start, when your entire outlook on life has changed over a few short days? He thought about sunsets and rolling hills, kids and old ladies in a pumpkin patch, fruit that tasted like heaven, and a beautiful young woman who lit up whenever she saw him. 

“You see, there’s this apple orchard-”

  
*

“So why is the cat named BB?” Ben asked as he stroked the soft warm fur of the creature purring on his lap.

Rey glanced over from where she was tallying the day’s receipts. Friday again, and it was hard to believe only a week had gone by. He had spent the evening weighing pumpkins, restocking the cider cooler, scrubbing donut racks. She had let him drive the tractor for the night’s hay ride: a raucous, fun group of women celebrating a bachelorette party. He’d graciously turned down an invitation to do a striptease for an extra $50.

“Actually, he’s BB-8,” Rey answered, smiling at them both fondly. “According to Maz, when she built the house the orchard cat - the original BB - was just a kitten. Charcoal gray and shooting all over the place, hence the name.”

“So what happened to BB 1 through 7?”

Rey shrugged, tapping a finger on her lip as she scanned numbers on the sheet in front of her. “BB-6 still comes around from time to time. I think someone down the road feeds him, so he mostly stays there. BB-7 got hit by a car.”

The sadness in her tone tightened his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, thanks.” She closed the book, then put it and the cash drawer in the safe then spun the lock. “I guess there’s always risk in being wild and free.” She was quiet for a minute, and he realized she was likely not just talking about cats. Finally she stretched her arms up and yawned. “But it just sucks that it was a speeding car, you know? I love sharing this place, especially with kids and other people who rarely get out from the city. But sometimes you get jerks who’re just here for a laugh, and the orchard doesn’t matter enough for them to be careful or even appreciate…”

Her voice drifted off, and he saw a flush creep up her cheeks.

“Like the obnoxious jerks on the hayride last Friday?” he asked as BB abruptly jumped off his lap and streaked out the half-open door.

A small chuckle. “Yeah, kinda like that group.” She came to sit beside him, her hip just barely touching his. “One of them wasn’t too bad, though. He gave me a hundred dollar tip then came back with m&m’s. And he has bedroom eyes and the softest lips…”

It was almost midnight. In eleven hours he would meet with Lando and the regional director of the FBI corporate crimes division. On Monday morning the offices of Snoke and Associates would be raided, their computers and files confiscated, the executives - himself included - led out in handcuffs in front of news cameras.

He gently picked up her hand and kissed her palm, saying, “I should go,” at the exact moment that Rey whispered, “Stay tonight.”

They stared at each other, her upturned palm still resting in his. Her hair was down today, the first time he’d seen it that way, and Ben had found himself constantly wanting to touch it, twirl it in his fingers, grab a handful and hold it tight. 

And he knew she would let him. He’d been invited.

“Stay,” she said again, her eyes searching his face. 

There was nothing in the world that he wanted more. 

But…

“After tonight,” he murmured, “I won’t be able to see you for a while.” _You might not want to see me, ever again, once you learn who I really am and what I planned to do. You might even think I was using you._ The thought was unbearable. He knew a bit of her history now, knew she didn’t trust easily. But she trusted him.

Her brows creased. “Why not? Work?”

Ben exhaled, his chin bowing almost to his chest before he lifted it and looked her in the eye. She deserved that much, even though he couldn’t tell her everything yet. “Yeah,” he answered. “Work.”

Rey held his gaze, her eyes piercing and sharp. She knew, Ben realized, that he was keeping secrets. Of course she did. But now if she asked for more he’d have to leave… his plea agreement with the FBI required it.

Finally she nodded, as if to herself, and stood. A decision had been made.

She lifted a hand and brushed a fingertip across his lips, the touch as soft as her whisper, “Then give me something to dream about until you come back.” She took his hand and tugged, and again, Ben found it utterly impossible to resist.

  
*

Rey had a room in Maz’s house but mostly stayed in the barn, in a small loft apartment she had told him about but that he’d never seen. Ben climbed the creaking steps and ducked his head under the sloped eaves, Rey leading the way and still clutching his hand as though afraid to let him go. 

The air in her space was cool and smelled fresh like the apple orchard, probably because of the enormous window that opened over her equally large, sloppily made bed. He walked over to it, distantly recognizing that he felt none of the nervous dread that he usually felt in this situation, as few as those encounters were. 

The window sill was level with her pillow; there was no screen. He clicked on a small bedside lamp and glanced down. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall out in your sleep?”

“I don’t usually do somersaults in bed.”

He snaked his hand around her back, his fingertips touching warm skin. “Maybe tonight you will.”

Laughing softly, she turned into him and pressed a hand against his chest. “Will you catch me if I fall?”

“Always.” The word was barely out before she went up on her toes and kissed him. 

Despite his fantasies over the last week - and despite how he’d touched himself thinking about her - their actual interactions to this point had been quite chaste. Exploring, tender kisses. The press of bodies buffered by layers of clothes. Suggestive banter and lingering looks.

Rey, it seemed, had been holding back.

In the blink of an eye, Ben found himself flipped onto his back, sinking impossibly far into what had to be the softest mattress ever made. Rey straddled him, pinning his wrists, her lips never having left his. He must have gone too still, because after a moment she pulled back.

“You ok?”

He could only stare up at her in wonder. “That was amazing.”

Her concerned look dissolved into giggles.

“No, really,” he insisted, glancing to either side of his head where she still had him pinned. “You’re like a really sexy ninja.”

She was full-on laughing now, causing her body to shake in a way that had his complete, heated attention. “Judo,” she finally got out, “for my PE credit freshman year. But now ‘sexy ninja’ is definitely in the running for this year’s Halloween costume.”

“I am in full support of that option.” He straightened his arms over his head to bring her down against him, her face now an inch from his. “But you could wear a brown paper bag and still be hot.”

Rey rolled her eyes, though she blushed a little at the compliment.

“I’m serious.” He pulled her further down and nuzzled his stubbled chin against the soft skin of her neck. He felt her start to fall into him, heard the quick intake of breath. He murmured into her ear, “You’re smart and beautiful and-”

He hooked her legs and flipped her over as quickly as she’d tossed him, though it was harder than anticipated to get leverage on the squishy bed. But in a second she was under him, tense against his weight, her eyes growing dark as the humor left them, replaced by something primal.

“And what?” she whispered, rolling just the slightest bit under his hips.

He bucked into her gently, his body already wanting more. “And you have too many clothes on,” he finished, sitting back quickly so he could whip off his shirt and then grasp the hem of her soft black sweater. A prettier outfit than was practical for her work. She had likely dressed up just for him. He peeled it off carefully.

A black bra, intricate lace. The type that would have matching panties. He sat back further, and at her questioning expression, he said quietly, “I want to see.” She smiled, confident and maybe a little smug, and lifted her hips to help him tug down her jeans. Then he knelt by her feet and just looked.

“Jesus, Rey…”

An expanse of smooth, freckled skin. Legs that went on forever. Fading tan lines from shorts and t-shirts. Strong, full hips and thighs accented by a V of that same delicate black lace. 

She bent one knee slightly and pretended to casually examine her fingernails. “These are my everyday underwear.”

Ben snorted a laugh, picking up one foot and tracing his thumb across the ankle. “If I’d known that, I would have tackled you out in the orchard days ago.”

Rey huffed, blowing away a wave of hair that had fallen over her face. “Really? I’ve been trying to seduce you for a week and now you tell me all I had to do was flash a bit of lingerie?” At his answering shrug she laughed out loud. “You’re such a boy.”

“What can I say?” he said into her skin as he slowly kissed his way up her calf. “I have a sexy farmgirl kink.” A small bite to the inside of her knee. “Newly discovered.”

Her smile had softened, her eyes heavy-lidded as she watched him. “Ninjas and farmgirls,” she whispered. ”The things that turn you on.”

“You turn me on,” Ben murmured into the lace covering her core as he nuzzled her with his nose and breathed her in, his whole world shrinking down to this bed, this woman. “You’re so warm.”

Even so, she shivered as his tongue touched her, and the lace panties were soon on the floor as Ben lost himself in the sound of her moans and the feel of her hands in his hair. She was so beautifully aroused that it didn’t take much - one slow finger moving inside and his tongue tapping ever so lightly - before she bucked up against him and cried out, and it took all of his strength to hold her down so that he could stroke her through until she was limp and shaking on the crisp white sheets.

Ben crawled up her body, planting little goosebump-raising kisses along the way; and he wasn’t surprised at all when she pushed him over and nipped at his jaw while her fingers deftly worked his button and zipper open. And he died - Ben was absolutely sure he’d died and ascended - when her hot little mouth closed over him, teasing and licking while her fingers stroked his balls and played with his ass until he was harder than he’d ever been in his life.

“Rey-”

She lifted her head, a small smile on her red, wet lips. “Hmmm?”

He reached for her, trying to remember how to move his arms, how to make words. “I want-”

“I know what you want, babe.” She crawled off him toward the bedside table before coming back with a little box. 

He grinned. “Magnum XL? How’d you guess?”

“You didn’t notice me staring at your feet?” 

His laughter died in his throat as she locked eyes with him, deliberately removing her bra - _oh god her breasts_ \- before breaking the seal on the box and removing a foil packet. Despite her smug confidence, he saw her lips purse in concentration as she fumbled to roll the condom on. 

He helped, his fingers lightly guiding hers as her cheeks flushed. “Sorry,” she mumbled, trailing her fingernails up to his navel. “I don’t do this much.”

“Neither do I.”

Her eyebrows quirked as if in disbelief as she threw a leg over and straddled his hips, not lowering down but instead leaning forward to press her palms against his cheeks, staring for a moment before dipping in to kiss him softly. “How did I get so lucky,” she whispered into his mouth, her lips ghosting against his as she canted her hips in invitation and Ben finally - _finally_ \- guided himself into her. “Oh, shit, Ben, oh my god…”

Her heat was exquisite, and Ben lost himself in it, closing his eyes and clutching her hips as she rode him slowly, deeper and deeper until they were fully locked. He could barely breathe.

“Rey…”

One of her hands braced on his shoulder, the other wrapped around his throat, forcing his head back further as a gust of wind blew through her gauzy curtains and cooled the sweat already building on him. Every sense was heightened, and Ben was overwhelmed by the scent of the orchard and of her skin, the feel of her nails biting into soft skin under his jaw, the faint taste of her cunt on his tongue. Finally he opened his eyes to see her moving over him, looking like a dream creature that clawed her way into his waking life to devour him whole. He could see himself loving this woman. He thought he already did.

The pressure on his neck lessened, and Ben took the opportunity to grab her wrist and flip her over… or at least he tried to. His momentum was swallowed by the squishy mattress, so instead they ended up awkwardly side-by-side with her leg hooked over his hip. She laughed.

Ben fought back his own smile as he continued to try to heave them over without breaking apart. “This… goddamn… bed…”

She gently pulled off him and lay on her back, spreading both her arms and legs wide. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she said dreamily. “It’s like sleeping on a cloud.”

He grunted in mild annoyance, crawling back on top of her. “It’s like fucking on a marshmallow.”

She laughed again, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck to pull him close as Ben slid back inside. He pinned her with his full weight, knowing she could take it even as he drove into her harder and faster, his hands hooking under her thighs to open her further as she cursed and gasped and bit hard into his shoulder. The wind gusted again, bringing a smatter of rain that misted his back and shoulders as he felt hot pleasure shooting down his spine. Ben gritted his teeth, not allowing himself to fall until Rey first went over that edge, clenching around him and screaming his name as he pushed deep into her and just felt the rhythmic release of both their bodies with her hands tight in his hair and her chest heaving under his.

He braced on his forearms, catching his breath as Rey trembled with tiny aftershocks beneath him.

_“mew”_

Ben lifted his head slowly only to have a feathery tail brush his nose. BB-8 scowled at him from the windowsill, just inches away.

_“mrooowww”_

Rey craned her head back to look. “Oh, he’s pissed.”

Ben pulled out slowly and sat back on his knees. “I thought he liked me.”

“Mmmm…” she rolled over, patting the bed in invitation to the orange and white tom that now pointedly ignored them both. “Sometimes he sleeps on my pillows.” She quirked an eyebrow at BB. “Territorial much?”

White curtains flapped around the cat, fluttering out over the bed. Outside, the wind howled through the surrounding hills like a living thing as lightning flashed in the distance. Ben shot BB a look before leaning over to dispose of the condom then crawling next to Rey and pulling the covers over both of them. Again, she seemed to radiate heat from inside out. Ben felt like he’d been cold his whole life and was only now finding real warmth, with her.

“Shouldn’t we close the window?” he asked, nuzzling her neck. “The rain’s coming in.”

“I like it.” Rey yawned as thunder rolled far away. She studied the forearm he had draped over her, tracing the lines of his muscles with one finger. “I like you,” she added softly.

Ben’s heart squeezed in his chest. He wanted to say so much more, but he just stroked her hair as he swallowed those words and settled for, “I like you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter tomorrow... thank you for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading my fluffy little fall story! I really appreciate the kind comments and feedback.
> 
> And Happy Birthday-Eve to Amy. Sleep well into your new year, friend.

__________________________

It was one of those rooms from the movies or from television. Ben waited alone at a metal table, uncomfortable in a chair that was much too small for him, acutely aware that his every move was being watched by someone behind those mirrored glass windows. 

His wrists were sore from the handcuffs, though they hadn’t stayed on long. It was the least he deserved, he supposed, for his role in Snoke’s long-running criminal enterprise. But the repercussions wouldn’t end with a bit of chafing and some news footage of him being led from a building and shoved into the back of a black car. He’d have to pay some hefty fines. His law career might never recover; he might even be disbarred. Sure, he wasn’t going to jail like most of his colleagues, but… 

Ben slumped down with a sigh just as the door opened and Lando strode in, his step quick and his eyes bright.

“Cheer up, Benny boy, we got to put away some bad guys today!” When Ben didn’t respond, Lando huffed and sat down in the chair across from him, throwing a case file down on the table. “Listen, kid, I know it seems bad right now, but imagine how much worse it could’ve been if you hadn’t come to us first.”

“That’s exactly what I _am_ thinking about.”

“Well then, how about this.” Lando leaned forward onto his elbows. “Seems Snoke et al had a doomsday button for their corporate records. As soon as our first agent in flashed their badge, someone typed a code that wiped everything… and I mean everything, from their system. We’ve got a hundred people digging through that office physically and electronically, and they are finding zero evidence. It’s all gone. Except for this!” He brought his fist down hard on the thick file, making Ben jump a little in his seat. “You gave us enough, kid. More than enough.” He threw back his head and laughed. “You saved this investigation, Ben.”

Ben tried to sit up straighter but couldn’t find the strength. He pushed a shaking hand through his hair. He’d copied every single document… all the cases he’d had a hand in and several others he hadn’t. “They didn’t tell me.”

Lando nodded, obviously pleased. “About the kill switch? I figured as much. And you see, Benny, that’s a good thing… it means they didn’t totally trust you.” His tone turned serious. “It separates you from that group in the eyes of the prosecutor. You’ll get off easier. Maybe even keep your license, though that’s ultimately up to the state bar.”

Ben just nodded. He knew Lando had gone to bat for him, advocated on his behalf. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

Lando studied him for a minute, his face softening. “Your dad would have gotten a kick out of this, you know. He’d have been proud of you.” A small grin. “And I bet he’d want to meet this apple orchard girl of yours.”

Ben allowed himself a small smile for the first time that day. “He would have liked Rey. She’s good with a torque wrench.”

“You did the right thing in keeping her out of this. Now, you’re positively sure you didn’t say anything? And she doesn’t even have your cell phone number?”

Ben shook his head. “No. Nothing.” He could only imagine what Rey must think of him now. His picture was all over the news.

“Well, that saves her from having to get a lawyer of her own.”

Ben exhaled sharply, his already-frayed nerves jolted by the thought of Rey being dragged into his mess. “How long until I can talk to her?” he asked.

Lando sat back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Well, normally I’d say… not until after the trial.”

Ben’s heart sank. That would be several months, probably a year or more.

He might lose her.

“But…” his parents’ friend leaned forward again, that same sparkle in his eye. “I might still owe your old man a favor or two. Let me talk to the prosecutor, see what we can do.”

“I’m not sure I deserve this,” Ben admitted quietly, staring at his hands.

“You’re family,” Lando said firmly enough that Ben looked back up at him. “And you’re a good kid.” He tapped the case file again. “I always knew you’d come around. Speaking of which, we’re going to release you soon, but agents are still going through your car and apartment. It’ll be a few days before you get your keys and wallet back.”

Ben blinked. It made sense, but he hadn’t considered that. “So where should I-”

“Leia’s here, Ben. She’ll pick you up out back.” Lando smirked at whatever expression must have been on Ben’s face at that. “And one more thing.” He placed a lumpy envelope on the table and pushed it across. “Someone - not saying who - dropped this off to the front desk not long ago. Asked for it to go toward ‘Ben Solo’s bail fund.’” He chuckled. “Pretty sure that was meant as a joke.”

Ben hesitantly picked up the envelope, opened the flap, and peered inside to see a crumpled $100 bill and a bag of peanut m&m’s.

  
*

  
The parking lot was empty, the barn seemingly deserted. Ben stepped out of his car into the still, silent air of the orchard. No crowds, no wind… no Rey. His heels crunched on gravel as he stuck his hands into his pockets against the morning frost and looked up.

The loft window was closed. Maybe this was too cold even for her.

It had been four long weeks.

Despite Lando’s best efforts, the federal prosecutor had demanded that Ben remain in home confinement for nearly a month. No visitors, no phone, no email. His internet use was monitored. After a few days he’d ordered a treadmill and some weights. Even his groceries were delivered.

Every order included apples and cider.

In the outside world, Halloween had come and gone, and the country had elected a new President. Rey would be busy with her thesis. Snoke had been deemed a flight risk and was denied bail. 

All across the orchard, leaves were turning and dropping, a yellow-brown carpet over long green grass. The previously omnipresent bees were nowhere to be seen. A pile of brown apple pulp remained behind the cider mill, free for anyone to take for their horses and pigs.

He closed his eyes and breathed, the scents of this place bringing a rush of the memories that had kept him sustained these past weeks. The way Rey threw her head back when she laughed. Her sweating body sliding hotly over his. The press of her hands as she massaged the muscles of his legs and teased him about being ticklish. Mouthing the soft tiny hairs on the back of her neck as he fucked her from behind, both of them watching clouds stream across the full moon.

Another full moon tonight. Four very long weeks.

“She’s out looking for BB-8.”

Ben spun around to find Maz just a few feet behind him. Words failed him for long enough that the old woman laughed.

“I know what you’re thinking, and no, I haven’t shrunk.” Her eyes were magnified behind thick lenses, and he remembered believing that her glasses had magical powers. Perhaps they did. “I always knew you’d find this valley, child.”

“How could you know that?”

Maz closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the sky. “There’s an energy here that draws people. Most come and stay for an hour, or maybe a day. But there are others… myself, Rey, and now you… that this place truly calls to.” She looked at him again, eyes narrowed and keen. “That girl has been waiting for a long time, Ben. For belonging, for family, for someone to love her.”

He felt stripped down. Tears pricked hot in his eyes. “She’s strong, Maz. Stronger than she knows.”

A curt nod. “Strong or not, no one wants to be alone.” She smiled softly. “Isn’t that what brought you back here the day after that hayride?”

He thought of his solitary birthday. The sway of her hips silhouetted against a sunset. Dreams about her boots and her voice. 

“Anyway,” Maz continued, “BB didn’t come in last night. He does that sometimes, but Rey’s worried because it’s so cold. Last I saw, she was out near the pond.” The old woman turned and began to walk away. “I’d tell you to say hello to your mother,” she called over her shoulder, “but she’ll be visiting here this afternoon.”

Ben set out between two neat rows of trees, the freezing dew wetting his boots. The sun hadn’t yet cleared the eastern hills. He was going to need a warmer coat this season. 

The pond came into view, and then Rey, wearing an oversize hoodie and plaid pajama pants. He watched her breath puff out in clouds as she called out, “BB! BB-8 you shedding menace, where are you?” Then she must have caught him from the corner of her eye because she turned and froze in place, eyes wide as he slowly approached.

“Any luck?” Ben asked, his voice shaky to his own ears.

“Not yet,” she said after a long moment. “But I think he might just be messing with me.” She scanned him head to toe like she had that first night, and Ben felt himself warming, even more when she gave a small smile. “So they finally let you out of the clink?”

“Thanks for bailing me out.”

Rey just looked at him and shook her head, loose hair falling in her face. She glanced up as the sun finally peeked over the tops of the trees. “You were really going to turn this into a golf course?”

His gut tightened as he forced himself to say, “condos, too.”

She snorted, then wiped her red nose on her sleeve. “I met your mother.”

“I know.”

She took a small step toward him. Ben was holding his breath.

“You never told me she ran a land conservancy now.”

It had been his mother’s answer to the loss of her family property, her resistance against Snoke and Ben and others like them.

Leia’s conservancy had just purchased this orchard. Ben had done the paperwork, pro bono.

“I’m sorry,” he said. And then he waited, to see if that was enough.

The tears on her cheeks chipped into his heart. She was quiet for a long time, staring at the water. “You missed Halloween,” she said softly. “I was hoping we could carve pumpkins together.”

“We will next year,” he answered. When she didn’t respond to that, he tried again. “No sexy ninja costume, I take it?” She just shook her head, still not looking at him. “Rey.” Her arms wrapped around herself, her chin tucked. He closed the distance between them until they shared heat. “Please.”

Finally, _finally_ , she turned into him and buried herself in his chest. Ben pulled her close, shaking as he rested his cheek against the top of her head. They stood in silence, breathing each other in, allowing the tears, grounding each other in new feelings of hope and love and home. 

After a while Rey pulled back to look up at him, her cheeks red and puffy. “I have to confess, Ben. I wasn’t completely honest with you either.”

He tightened his hold on her. “No?”

She sighed, a mischievous glint returning to those beautiful hazel eyes. “You see, those really weren’t my everyday underwear.” 

He laughed and kissed her, a kiss that started softly but soon had them both gasping for breath and trying to slip icy hands under clothing. She yipped and jumped away when his fingers grazed her stomach. And then her eyes widened when she spied something behind him. “BB-8!”

Ben turned and saw the cat trotting toward them confidently, something black and yellow hanging limply from his mouth. He squinted. “Is that a-”

BB deposited his prize on Rey’s boot and then sat back proudly. _‘Mroowww’_

“Salamander,” Rey confirmed sadly, shaking her head and scowling at the cat. 

A moment later she blinked up at Ben. “What’s so funny?”

  
THE END


End file.
